Freshmen in Ledges establish ‘underground fraternity’

A group of freshmen in the Ledges residence hall has formed its own unofficial fraternity, known as Delta Ledges. Mark Katz, one of the founding brothers, estimates that they are currently 15-20 brothers strong. However, administration has not yet commented on the group. Vice President of Public Relations John Morgan stated that the school does not comment on unrecognized student organizations.

Katz said that the fraternity started out as just being a regular group of friends hanging out with each other on the second floor of Ledges. He said that none of them ever intended on being involved with a fraternity, but “as it developed more and more… it started to become what it is now.”

As they have only been around for about three weeks, Katz said that there are still many things that have to get done. However, the group has already designed a symbol: the Delta character with an ‘L’ in the middle. The group is waiting for their fraternity flag to arrive.

As all of the members are freshmen, Katz thinks that it puts everyone on a level playing field in Delta Ledges.

“It’s nice to have someone who is above you in other frats; they can tell you what’s going on,” Katz said. “Here, everyone’s in the exact same boat, so we’re all finding out together.”

Katz said there are not any set positions yet in Delta Ledges. There is a president that is designated for convening meetings, but the whole fraternity votes on decisions. However, there are established requirements for being a part of the fraternity. One major requirement, as Katz puts it, is “loyalty to the cause,” though specifics were not made clear.

“You’re not just going to turn tail on us and say ‘whatever’… and you’re not gonna hurt one of your fellow brothers in any way, whether that be fighting, or ratting someone out to a friend. It’s all about the loyalty,” he said.

Another requirement to be a part of the fraternity is to live in Ledges. Katz said that anyone can be an honorary member, but you must live (or in future years, have lived) in Ledges to be recognized as a brother. Katz wants to do this to keep the size of the fraternity small, so everyone can know each other well.

However, John Miller, a freshman living in Mountainview, is not a fan of that policy.

“It sounds like a good idea; brings everyone together on the floor, I guess, and there’s nothing wrong with fraternities; they build connections, networking… good stuff to me,” Ciuffo said.

When asked about what their relationship with other Greek life organizations is, Katz thinks that other fraternities and sororities have not heard of Delta Ledges yet. However, he did say that Residential Life is familiar with the fraternity, via RA patrols. Katz thinks the reaction so far has been mixed.

“Some people see us as a joke. Some people say, ‘We see you as such a cool thing’… I’m sure Residential Life hates us, but I’m sure Residential Life hates every frat,” he said.

Emma Richardson is a freshman who has a friend that has attended Delta Ledges meetings, and has noted that she has seen the fraternity name on the doors of members rooms. She said that even though she isn’t personally into Greek life, she sees all fraternities and sororities as potential good things.

“If the school is concerned about an unofficial organization, as long as they’re not hurting anything having to do with the school, (or) breaking any rules or laws, if they want to become an organization, they should be able to do that,” Richardson said.

So far, there have been some new members that have come to the fraternity, but Katz wants to think about expansion later on. To help with that, Katz said that they have been operating an Instagram account, though it is currently offline. He wants to use the platform to both build their “underground” brand, and also be able to reach out to future residents of Ledges.

“It’s hard for sophomores and older to reach out to freshmen, because… all the freshmen are awkward. They’re all like fish out of water. So, I feel like social media would be good to utilize to get a good grind next year,” Katz said.

Katz feels like it’s a good thing that he and his brothers started their organization and emphasize the closeness of their group.

“We aren’t this big of a frat,” Katz said. “We’re a little bit smaller, we’re a little bit on the smaller side. However, if that’s what you’re looking for; really close, tight-knit brothers, this is the frat for you.”